This is a very important article to read for anyone who works in the field of human movement. When it comes to developing functional movement, often the very first step and goal is improving the body’s capability for full range movement. Movement happens about the body’s 360 joints and the degree in which they are able to achieve movement is referred to as ‘range of motion’ or ROM. Each joint must fulfill a specific degree of ROM in order to move in a way that maximizes the body’s biomechanical output, conserves energy, minimizes the leaking of forces, and inhibits the tendency for other muscles need to overcompensate. This is known as functional range. Below you can see a nice and simple example of this where a pelvic imbalance can produce compensations further up the chain at the neck. If ROM is limited, two things happen: first of all the movement must go on and so other joints must move more in order for the body to reach its destination. And two, in order for the muscles to ea...

When working with a Doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine it doesn’t take long to hear the word “meridian” being tossed about. The meridians are fundamental pathways that display communications throughout the body. These meridians are a catch-all source to many of our physiological functions that traverse through the periphery into the limbs and extremities. The sake of this article is to dive into these peripheral meridians that are so fundamental to eastern medicine, and look at their role in regulating our circulatory and lymphatic system. Let’s begin by quickly defining these two anatomical systems. Anatomical meaning that they’re defined structurally in terms of common functionality and cellular make-up. The circulatory system is comprised of the blood vessels and all that circulates within them under the broad term “blood”. Anatomically the blood vessels are divided into three main divisions: that which carries oxygenated blood away from the heart (arteries and arterioles), ...